FW: Why the West lost to China

Letter from reader and my response

> Ben, as far as your recent newsletter is concerned I
> disagree with several of your points. One is that you cite sloth as a
> major contributor to the downfall of the West. It is true that we
> have relied on outsourced labor to produce our goods for pennies on
> the dollar, but most of this was not by the choice of the average
> worker. Workers, particularly those in manufacturing, want jobs and
> wages like most people. Some work hard and some do not. But those
> who have jobs today are actually overworked. See the following:
> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-6532472.html
>
Not to mention that young people today are under
> a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed in school and find their
> career or life path from a very early age. The West and East are both
> overworked, not underworked.
>
I also do not　feel homosexuality is being “promoted” since it is vigorously opposed
> in the US by numerous factions, and those promoting it are looking at
> homosexuality as an acceptable sexual variant and would like to seek
> its acceptance in society. They do not necessarily have a
> depopulation agenda. Some people are just that – gay – and I am sure
> even you could appreciate this point.
>
> When you recommend “making stuff” as the answer, “making stuff”
> obviously uses resources and drains the planet if not done in a
> sustainable fashion. We could support the economy theoretically by
> making cars and tanks or even drilling more oil, but do we really need
> all that stuff? If anything production should be cut back because
> much of the stuff that is made today is not ultimately useful to
> anybody.
>
> Thanks for reading, would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for the feedback K,

When I talked about the lazy West, I was talking about the countries as a whole. I realize the average
working stiff is overworked while the elite are encouraged to be lazy and passive.
I also want to make clear that being gay is not a problem and should not be discriminated against. The
point I wanted to make is that other forms of marriage, like polygamy, that produce lots of children are outlawed. In traditional
societies the amount of gay men roughly equaled the amount of women in polygamous marriages. This seems to be a balance
created by nature and I do not think the government belongs in the bedrooms of the nation.
Finally, you make a good point that we drain the environment by making unecessary stuff. However,
the fact remains that the West as a whole has been consuming stuff made by other countries and not
paying for it with either services or other stuff. That is why their governments are having to face
bankruptcy and restructuring.